While women have a number of effective birth control options, men have to go under the knife to avoid having a baby. But, that could change soon as a new research has shown promising results in the field of male contraception.

In an experiment at the California National Primate Research Center, a team of researchers injected a gel into the sperm ducts of 16 adult male monkeys and found that the gel was effective at preventing pregnancy.

The experimental gel called Vasalgel is a polymer gel that the researchers injected directly into the male monkeys’ vas deferens, the tube that moves sperms from the testes out through the penis. The gel blocked the monkeys’ vas deferens, preventing pregnancy.

The positive results of the research have brought the prospect of an effective alternative form of birth control for male humans closer.

Elaine Lissner, executive director of the Parsemus Foundation, “What was important here was that this worked and was safe in animals similar to humans … This is a bigger, longer task than we first anticipated.”

The researchers reported their findings about the experimental non-surgical, male contraceptive in the latest edition of the journal Basic & Clinical Andrology.